Police: Ashley Hall suspect showed up 2 years ago talking to self

The woman arrested this week on charges of pointing a handgun at two Ashley Hall officials showed up at the downtown school in September 2010, muttered to herself and inquired about 5-year-old children, according to a police document.

Alice Boland, 28, of Beaufort was arrested Monday on charges of attempted murder, pointing a firearm, unlawfully carrying a firearm and possessing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

The police said today that Boland had purchased the gun legally from a gun shop days before Monday’s incident, but no further details were immediately released. Boland did not have a criminal history.

The Charleston Police Department was summoned to the private school Sept. 30, 2010, after staff members saw Boland standing at a gate to the campus on Rutledge Avenue, talking to herself and asking questions about children, the document stated.

She asked how many children went to the school, and her questions pertained mostly to 5-year-olds, the police said.

She told a police officer that she might know one of the students, and she said she was interested in the school, the officer reported.

Boland was issued a trespassing notice.

After she showed up again Monday, family members said that Boland has a history of mental illness.

She’s accused of pointing a .22-caliber pistol at two officials and pulling the trigger. But it didn’t fire. She later said during a bond hearing that the gun was defective, but officers found no round in the weapon’s chamber.

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